Verstappen downbeat after lack of pace on the opening day
Three-time F1 world champion Max Verstappen was left puzzled about the lack of speed at the Zandvoort circuit, claiming Red Bull is unsure how to extract more time from the RB20.
Due to the tricky, wet conditions, Max Verstappen opted to sit out the early action of the opening session, emerging just as the track was ready for intermediates. He did immediately spin though, which wasn’t the ideal start to his weekend. From there, the Dutchman soon got up to speed and went toe to toe with Norris late on for the fastest lap.
In the dry second session, the Dutchman once again looked in the mix towards the front but certainly isn’t showing anyone a clear pair of heels here.
The reigning champion was downbeat after the opening day, claiming that his RB20 lacks speed both in qualifying and race trim.
“Of course, in FP1 we didn’t get a lot of running in but the weather cleared up for FP2 and as a result we could see a little bit more where we were.
"We didn’t quite have the pace on the long and short runs and at the moment there isn’t a clear answer on how to improve this, but we will look into things.
"This is where we have been the last few races, so it isn’t a surprise but we need to work to find a little bit more form ahead of qualifying tomorrow.”
His team-mate Sergio Perez occupied the 12th spot in both practice sessions, having been six tenths of a second adrift of Verstappen in FP2. While the Mexican admitted that he needs to sort out a few things, he is sure that he will be able to extract more from his RB20.
“It was tricky conditions today between a wet FP1 and a dry FP2. We tested quite a bit out on track with set-up and it looks and feels a little bit better than the order shows from today.
"I made a mistake and went off in Turn 12 so I lost a couple of tenths. But overall we’ve got some work to do especially in the long run pace to catch the people ahead.
"We ran both cars differently today, so there’s lots to analyse. Qualifying will be important here so we need to maximise tomorrow," concluded Perez.
